The present invention is directed toward a method and apparatus for playing a poker-like card game and more particularly toward a new poker-like card game for use in a casino. The game may be designed as a table game or could be incorporated into an electronic poker machine.
As a leisure time activity, poker and other card games have fascinated the public for a very long time. Numerous variations of the game of poker including variations on stud poker and draw poker are well known to those in the art. The game is frequently played at home with three or more players betting against each other as to who has the best poker hand.
Poker-style card games have also been played in gaming casinos for many years. Normally gaming casinos provide segregated poker rooms in which a number of players gather around a poker table and play whatever type of poker game is being dealt at that table. The casino provides the dealers, handles the exchange of money for gaming chips and takes a percentage of each poker pot as the fee or "rake" for its services.
This type of live poker played in legalized gambling establishments, such as those in Atlantic City or Las Vegas, are not believed to be widely accepted by the average patron. Many may be afraid to play due to the reputation that card sharks are waiting for the unsuspecting player to come along. Such live games may, therefore, be intimidating to a novice or even an average poker player who may wish to participate.
One of the most popular live poker games played in many casinos is seven card stud. The game is well known to the average player and is relatively easy to understand and play. A significant problem with the game, however, particularly for the novice player, is that, even at low limits, the five rounds of betting and five raises can become extremely costly for a player to play even a single hand. This can be an expensive way for new players to learn the game.
Because of the foregoing, many novice players avoid playing live poker games in casinos. As a result, the current player base may consist of a group of regular players who dominate the games and often regard the newcomers as fish. These regular players may tend to hang out in poker rooms of particular casinos that may cater to them.
In many casinos, the above-described problems with live poker games have been addressed and attempts have been made to fill the void by providing a plurality of poker-style table games that are banked by the house and that are easily played and understood. Games that have achieved some substantial popularity in this regard are Caribbean Stud Poker and Let It Ride. A house-banked game is a game in which the gaming establishment pays all winning hands and collects all losing hands. Many of these games may also feature progressive jackpots that have proved to be very popular with players of all types. Because these games are structured as house-banked games, the gaming regulations in many jurisdictions do not permit the same.
As pointed out above, conventional well known forms of poker are not widely accepted by the average gaming patron. Such players do, however, seem to enjoy playing poker-style table games. The poker-style card game of the present invention has been created as a house-banked table game to be played in those jurisdictions which allow such games and is believed to fill a need for the novice, average or even expert poker player.
Additionally, with the advent of computer electronics, one player poker games played on electronic gaming machines have also become quite popular. The most popular of these games is five card draw poker wherein the player attempts to achieve a high ranking poker hand from his initially dealt five cards and any draw replacement cards. A payout table is provided that pays the player various multiples of his wager depending on the rank of poker hand that he has achieved.
Although five card draw poker is the most popular electronic video poker game, many other variations of poker have also been proposed in the electronic form. These include Joker's Wild, Deuces Wild and five and seven card stud. Each has its unique payout table reflecting the relative odds of achieving various poker hand rankings.
Although electronic poker machines are less intimidating than live poker games thereby making them more attractive to the novice player, they sometimes can become rather boring to many players since there is no social interaction. Furthermore, most electronic poker games are essentially straight well-known types of poker and have no variety. A player makes a single bet before the game begins and either wins or loses based on the single bet.